DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATION LaCarte Purchasing (P-Card) Policy POLICY: The Corporate Liability LaCarte Purchasing Card (P-Card) is a Visa Card issued by Bank of America to the State of Louisiana that my be used by agency employees for authorized business purchases within the delegated authority limit. The program provides an efficient, cost effective method of purchasing and paying for small dollar transactions within expendable usage limits. The P-Card is the agencys preferred primary tool for purchasing business related items under $5,000. Cardholders must follow the State of Louisiana purchasing policies and strive to obtain the maximum ultimate value for each dollar of expenditure. PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance to agencies that have the Office of Finance and Support Services (OFSS) in the Division of Administration serving as their Program Administrator of their P-Card Program. The use of the P-Card is beneficial to the individual purchaser, the purchasers agency and the suppliers. It simplifies the purchasing and payment process and expedites receipt of goods. The P-Card provides significant cost savings to the State of Louisiana while providing electronic control and accountability. APPLICABILITY: This policy shall be applicable to all employees in all agencies who have the OFSS serving as their Program Administrator for the P-Card Program. Questions regarding this policy should be directed to the OFSS Program Administrator contact is: Tanitta Chambers-Lacey Program Administrator (225) PROCEDURES GENERAL GUIDELINES: The purpose of this P-Card Policy Manual is to provide guidelines for the issuance and use of the P-Card along with instructions for reconciliation and review of transactions. The Manual will be reviewed for adequacy by the agency P-Card Program Administrator. All Purchasing Cards are issued with corporate liability, under which the state is liable for the cost of the purchases. The program is based on the strength of the States financial resources, not the personal finances of the cardholder. Purchasing Cards are issued in the name of the State of Louisiana employees only. Each Section/Agency is required to assign an individual to serve as their P-Card Coordinator. The Coordinator will be the contact person responsible for providing the P-Card Administrator with supporting documentation to ensure Section/Agency program compliance. CARD ISSUANCE GUIDELINES: Privilege Determination: P-Cards may be issued to permanent, regular-status employees only. No student work or temporary status workers such as job appointments, WAEs or contract workers may be issued a LaCarte Purchasing Card. Cardholders must be approved by appropriate agency authority and cards should be distributed only to frequent purchasers, based on the request of a supervisor, manager or department head. The cardholders approvers must be a supervisor of the cardholder which would be at least one level higher than the cardholder. To ensure adherence to these guidelines, the Agency/Section Coordinator is required to complete and submit the Cardholder Enrollment Form to the Program Administrator. Participant Roles: LaCarte cardholder transactions are administered, monitored and reviewed through personnel holding the following roles: Program Administrator, Department Head, CBA Administrator and Auditor. Personnel holding these roles cannot be issued a LaCarte card. Approvers of cardholder transactions are allowed to also be a cardholder. However, when an Approver is a cardholder, the monthly audit and sign-off in the Workflow system of the Approvers transactions must be fulfilled by someone who is at least one level higher than the Approver. When an Approver is a cardholder, the Dual Role Exception Form must be completed providing support that the monthly audit. Sign-off in the Workflow system and other approver responsibilities are being fulfilled by someone at least one level higher than the approver. Employees whose states individual liability travel card account has been revoked due to charge-offs and or non-payment cannot be issued a LaCarte card. Cardholder Enrollment Form: Cardholders are required to complete the Cardholder Enrollment Form located on the OFSS website under P-Card Forms to become an authorized user. The Enrollment Form is completed by the employee and Agency/Section Coordinator and must be signed by the Agency/Section Head and the Appointing Authority to indicate authorization, cardholder- spending limits, and cost allocation information. Spending limits should be determined based on the cardholders job responsibilities, anticipated card usage levels, historical spending patterns, and budget limitations. The completed form with the required signatures is submitted to the P-Card Administrator, who will order the card from the bank and maintain the form in a cardholder file. Address: Cardholders name and businessaddress must match. If different for any reason, prior approval from the Commissioner of Administration/or his designee must be received or theaddress as maintained in Microsoft Outlook must be changed. The cardholder will be responsible for ensuring theaddress is changed prior to receiving approval for the card. ANNUAL REQUIREMENTS: Online Course : Cardholders, approvers and program administrators are required to take online training before role responsibilities and card purchasing privileges can be granted. Participants are required to pass the course with a score of at least 90%. The score or certification should be printed and sent along with the Cardholder Enrollment Form to the P-Card Administrator. The location of the online courses is the Louisiana Employees Online (LEO) System. It is a web-based training. Once you log on to LEO, go to My Training, Go to the Search Function, in the Search Term ask it to find: OSP. Three courses will come up for OSP LaCarte P-Card Certificate. Select the applicable course. Cardholders LaCarte Purchasing Card Program Cardholders The course must be taken for new cardholders prior to receipt of the P-Card, as well as annually, for all cardholders to continue to possess a State of Louisiana P-Card. Must achieve a score of at least 90% to pass course. Annual re-certification is required every July, no matter the initial date of card issuance. Annual Requirements: Agreement Form Completion: Cardholders, Approvers and Administrators are required to complete the Agreement Form annually. The forms are located on the OFSS website at:under P-Card forms and must be completed prior to a P-Card being issued.Card Expiration (3 years): Cards will automatically be replaced / renewed prior to the P-Cards expiration date by the issuing bank. Cardholders must recertify annually by taking the online course and achieving a passing score of 90 prior to receiving the renewal p-card. All replacement/renewed cards will be sent to the agencys program administrator for proper distribution. TRAINING GUIDELINES: Cardholders, Agency/Section P-Card Approvers and Administrators are required to successfully complete the OSP LaCarte P-Card online training tutorial prior to applying for a card or assuming role responsibilities and must re-certify annually each July. Participants must receive a score of 90% or above. Following successful completion, cardholders, approvers and administrators must review a Power Point led demonstration of the DOA LaCarte guidelines offered by the OFSS and provide written acknowledgement of acceptance and implementation. The online and Power Point trainings are required annually. Participants will be provided with a copy of their signed Agreement Form, reminding the participants of their responsibilities. Participants will also be provided a link to all policies, procedures, rules, regulations, Executive Orders and PPM49. WORKS WORKFLOW GUIDELINES: To allow for proper and complete program audits, all program participants will be required to utilize WORKS Workflow, which is an online system through Bank of America. Cardholders having submitted all required forms and certifications to the Program Administrator will be set up in the WORKS System by the Program Administrator. Upon set-up, the WORKS system will generate annotification to the cardholder informing the cardholder of their WORKS logon id and temporary password. Cardholders will receivenotifications from the WORKS System as the cardholder makes transactions. These transactions will post to the WORKS system that generates thenotification to the Cardholders approved stateaddress. Cardholders will be required to review, allocate and sign off on their transactions. Receipts supporting the transactions must be uploaded in the WORKS system. All receipts and supporting documentation must be scanned and attached to the applicable transaction and not as one image for all transactions. Cardholders are responsible for uploading receipts, signing off in WORKS, printing the Billing Cycle Purchase Log, attaching the original receipts to the log and forwarding to the Approver for review. Cardholder Approvers will be required to review the cardholder purchases to ensure they were for applicable business purposes; and sign off on the cardholders transactions upon transactions appearing in the Approvers pending file. The Approver should have all transactions signed off by the 11 th of the month following the close of the billing cycle. After the Cardholder Approver signs off on the transactions in WORKS, the Cardholders should reprint the Billing Cycle Purchase Log and forward it, original receipts and the Billing Statement, if available, to the OFSS section/agency accountant by the 11 th of the month. If the Billing Statement is unavailable, once received, it should be reviewed, signed, and immediately forwarded to OFSS. SECURITY GUIDELINES: The P-Card is the property of the State of Louisiana and the cardholder is responsible for the physical security and control of the P-Card and its appropriate use. The Cardholder is also responsible for maintaining the security of card data such as the account number, the expiration date, and the card verification [CVV], the 3-digit security code located on the back of the card. FRAUD OR MISUSE: Any recognized or suspected misuse of the P-Card program should be immediately reported to the Agency Head/Section Head, the OFSS Program Administrator, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) Hotline at FRAUD ( ) and/or may be anonymously reported to the State of Louisiana Inspector Generals Fraud and Abuse Hotline at P-Card Approvers will be required to participate in any disciplinary actions deemed appropriate. The cardholder should never include the full P-Card account number ins, fax, reports, memos, etc. If an account number is necessary, only the use of the last four or eight digits of the account number is allowed. The cardholder should never give the card account number, User ID or password to someone else. The cardholder should immediately notify OFSS Program Administrator if fraudulent charges are noticed, as the card may need to be cancelled and another card issued. LOST/STOLEN CARDS: To prevent unauthorized purchases from occurring on the P-Card, cardholders should immediately report lost or stole cards. Lost, stolen, or fraudulently used P-Cards must be reported to the Bank of America at as soon as possible after discovering the loss, theft or fraudulent use. The cardholders approving official and OFSS Program Administrator must also be notified. Lost or stolen cards require card cancellation. Failure to report the loss, theft or fraudulent use of the P- Card may result in increased financial loss to the agency. The Cardholder and Approver have the responsibility for communicating the information to the OFSS Program Administrator. EXTENDED LEAVE: To prevent cardholders from making purchases while on extended leave, and to ensure transactions are timely reviewed and approved cardholders and approvers should notify their P-Card Coordinator when he/she will be on extended leave. Extended leave is considered to be greater than three (3) working days. The P-Card Coordinator should notify the Program Administrator viathat the cardholder and/or Approver will be on extended leave, provide the begin date and approximate end date; and designee a temporary alternate approver. The Program Administrator will set the card limit to $1 or suspend the card and retain documentation supporting the alternate approver is at least one level higher than the cardholder. Upon return of the cardholder and/or approver, the P-Card Coordinator will notify the Program Administrator viato re-instate the card limits or cancel the suspension for the cardholder and/or re-instate the approver and remove the temporary approver. EMPLOYEE SEPARATION: To prevent cardholders from making purchases while not employed by the Division of Administration or one of it Ancillary Agencies, the cardholder is to surrender the card to their P-Card Coordinator. The Coordinator must immediately destroy (cut up) the card and notify the OFSS P-Card Administrator via(or by phone with follow upconfirmation) to cancel the card. WORKS WORKFLOW SYSTEM: All WORKS Workflow Users are responsible for securing all assigned WORKS application User IDs and passwords. Never share User IDs and passwords and/or leave the work are while logged into the system or leave the work area while logged into the system or leave log-in information lying in an unsecured area. Uploading and Attaching a Receipt Image Receipt Image uploads must be performed one at a time. Each uploaded receipt image must be less than one MB to upload. Your individual organization is considered the primary data owner. Therefore, you are responsible for maintaining original receipts. Procedures To upload a receipt image from your desktop into Works or attach a stored receipt and attach it to a transaction, reimbursement request or an Expense Report, complete the following: Log into the Works System: Expenses Receipts Add File to Add Browse Once youve added the receipt, you have the option to add another receipt, remove the receipt youve added, view PDF or complete your sign off. SPENDING GUIDELINES: To prevent undue financial obligations to the state, merchant category codes and individual card limits will be established. Since the State, not the individual employee, will pay for the purchases made the card, additional controls have been added to the card accounts. These limits are imposed at the point of sale when the card is swiped. In addition to the limits that are controlled at the point of sale by the card, the division of Administration limits the use of the card through policy. The card may be used only for purchases that are made under delegated authority or items exempt from review and approval by the agency head/section head or the State Procurement Office. SPLIT PURCHASES: Split purchases are prohibited. State policy states that a single purchase shall not be artificially divided to avoid the single purchase limit or procurement procedures. When a cardholder encounters the need to make a purchase that would exceed the single transaction limit, the cardholders must have the Agency/Section Head complete the Request for Exception to State P-Card and CBA Policy/Procedures Form and contact the OFSS Program Administrator for instruction and guidance to ensure proper approval from the Office of State Purchasing and Travel is obtained. In this instance, the cardholder should not attempt to make more than one transaction to the same vendor on the same day which exceeds the since transaction limit. Such practices violate Section 6 of the current Small Purchase Executive Order. AGENCY LIMITS: The P-Card may be used for purchases not to exceed the agency maximum limits of $5,000 per transaction. The standard monthly dollar limit is $25,000. INCREASED LIMIT P-Cards may be used by agency/buyers and other specifically designated and pre-approved cardholders for purchases on an as needed basis. CHANGES TO LIMITS: Requests for changes to card limits should be submitted by the Agency Head/Section Head viato the P-Card Administrator. In an emergency or time sensitive situation, the request may be verbal with a follow-upconfirmation. MERCHANT ACTIVITY TYPE LIMITS Specific types of businesses identified by a Merchant Category Code (MCC) are restricted on the card. If you have difficulty using your card with any particular vendor, please contact the P-Card Administrator. DECLARED EMERGENCY: In event of a declared emergency by the Governor, and to ensure cardholders can make purchases, only those cardholders who are deemed essential employees may have limits increased and additional MCC codes opened for their cards. Usage Guidelines All purchases made with P-Card must be for official agency/section business. Cardholders and approving officials are designated as agency/section purchasing agents. P-card may be used for fuel or vehicle maintenance. The card may be used for fuel or vehicle maintenance if the Fuel Card and Maintenance Program are not covered in a certain geographic area. Agencies/Sections must ensure that conference registration fees for employees paid pursuant to this section are recorded as required by Travel Regulations. Agencies should require employees to capture the aforementioned registration expenses on the employees travel expense statement. Care should be taken to ensure that the employee clearly identifies those items paid with the P-Card versus those items requiring reimbursement. Prohibited Usage Purchases made with the LaCarte must be made by the authorized cardholder. The authorized cardholder is the name embossed on the LaCarte card. Persons other than the cardholder are not allowed to make purchases using the cardholders LaCarte Card. The P-Card may not be used for: Personal items Accessing cash or accepting cash in lieu of store credit Gift cards/gift certificates, without prior approval Procurement or payment procedures Alcohol, food, travel expenses or entertainment services without obtaining prior written permission Taxes on purchases Purchases from vendors where the cardholder has a financial interest Fuel or vehicle maintenance if agency is part of the fuel card and maintenance program Returns If you determine that the material is defective or incorrect, notify the supplier that the item needs to be returned and request an address to ship to, and a Return Authorization Number. Request that the supplier process a credit transaction through the card. Disputed Transactions It is the cardholders responsibility to resolve discrepancies and ensure credits are received. When a cardholder discovers an incorrect amount has been charged for goods or services received, or a questionable purchase or transaction appears on a cardholders monthly statement, the cardholder must immediately seek to resolve the problem with the vendor. NOTE: Disputes must be submitted within 60 days of the statement date Travel Allowances Agency/Section Heads must submit a written request to the Program Administrator to be forwarded to the Office of State Purchasing and Travel to grant traveling privileges on a cardholders P-Card. Rental Car Allowance Cardholders are allowed to use their P-Card for in-state and out-of-state rentals at Enterprise Rent A Car, National Car Rental, and Hertz Car Rental without State Purchasing and Travel approval. Sales Tax When using the P-Card, the cardholder should inform the vendor that the purchase is for official State of Louisiana purposes, and therefore, may not be subject to Louisiana state or local sales taxes. If requested by the vendor, cardholders must present an AP-Sales & Use Tax Certificate of Exemption/ Louisiana Form. NOTE: Sales tax may not be disputed through the bank. Section/Agency Heads Section/Agency Heads are accountable for establishing, maintaining and ensuring cardholders and approvers are compliant with State and Division of Administration P-Card purchasing policies. Ultimate responsibility for an agencys program resides with the Section/Agency Head. Approvers Approvers are accountable fro conducting accurate and timely review of cardholders purchases. The approver must review and verify assigned cardholders P-Card purchases. Ensure appropriateness of purchases to the best of their knowledge. Cardholders Cardholders are accountable for abiding by DOA and State policy when making purchases utilizing the P-Card. The cardholder is accountable for all transactions on his card. To reinforce the doctrine of the cardholder accountability with agency oversight of the P-Card, each card is to be under the control of the cardholder. Program Administrator To ensure that the Division of Administration Sections and Ancillary Agencies are complaint with the State of Louisiana LaCarte Liability Program, the Program Administrator is responsible for the following: Keeping well informed of program updates along with dissemination of this information to the Department Head, cardholders, CBA administrator, cardholder approver and any other agency personnel as deemed appropriate Performing post audits of cardholder transactions to monitor appropriate use. Certifying monthly that the audit procedures have been conducted and submitted to the Office of State Travel Educating programs participants on state and agency policy requirements and procedures Educating program participants on the use of the card sales tax requirements Educating cardholders on process of reporting a card lost, stolen and/or any fraudulent activity. Requesting cards, user in WORKS and performing any maintenance necessary for agency cardholders. Establishing Corporate Business Accounts and determining proper administrators/approvers. Maintaining the annual, original signed agreement form for the State of Louisiana Corporate Liability P- Card program for all participants Providing program participants with a copy of the signed agreement along with the state and agency policies. OFSS Payments Section OFSS Payments Sections personnel are accountable for ensuring that all purchase transactions are accurately reported in the States accounting system ISIS. Documentation Guidelines All purchases are required to have documentation supporting the business purpose of the transactions. Documentation summarizing the monthly transactions and documenting that appropriate approvals occurred are also required. Retention To ensure documentation is maintained that support the evidence of retention, all Division of Administration Sections and Ancillary Agencies are required to timely remit monthly original Bank of America credit card statement and receipts to the OFSS. Audit Guidelines The Program Administrator will retrieve the following reports for each Division of Administration Section and Ancillary Agency by the 10 th of the month. The Agency/Section Coordinator will be required to complete the LaCarte Purchasing Card Compliance Reporting Justification form for all items appearing on the following reports and obtain Agency/Section Head Approval: Activity in Closed/Suspended Account Report Airline Incidentals Report Hotel Incidentals Report Non-contracted Car Rental Report Split Purchases Report Single transactions Exceeding $5,000 Report Decline Report Reconciliation Guidelines: Required Documentation Documentation supporting the date of purchase/service, the vendor name, complete description of the item, not a generic description such as general merchandise purchase amount and receipt date must be maintained by the cardholder for each purchase transaction. The fund/agency/organization number and object will be required to be entered in the WORKS Workflow System by the cardholder. Cardholders will receive paper billing statements monthly from Bank of America within approximately 5 business days of the close of the billing statement. Reconciliation Reconcile purchases/services appearing on the billing statement and/or in the WORKS Workflow System to vendor receipts or other vendor supplied supporting documentation. The reconciled statements are to be signed by the cardholder and counter signed (verified) by the approver designated by the Agency/Section Head or P-Card Coordinator/Administrator. In no instance, should the cardholder and approver be the same person. Cardholders cards whose reconciliation packages are not reported as complete within the 45-day time-frame will be suspended. Repeated non-compliance will result in card cancellation. Review Approver should review the items appearing on the billing statement against the items appearing on the billing statement against the original vendor receipts or other original vendor supporting documentation that has been scanned in the WORKS Workflow System. Approver must sign the memo statement and P-Card log or electronically approve the transaction in the WORKS Workflow system. The cardholder shall never be the final approver of his own monthly P-Card log/online transaction. Forward The cardholder should forward the original memo statement, paper billing statement and vendor receipts or other vendor supplied supporting documentation to the Approver. The Approver is responsible for ensuring that the unaltered original documentation is forwarded to the OFSS Payment Section at: OFSS, Claiborne Building, Suite by the 11 th of the month upon notification by the Approver that the reconciliation is approved. Accounting OFSS Payment Section is responsible for immediately reviewing the P3s upon their posting and determining if any discrepancies exists. If discrepancies are discovered, the Program Administrator must be notified so that proper resolution can be made with Bank of America. Violations Guidelines In the event that a Division of Administration Section or Ancillary Agency fails to comply with the requirements for participation in the P-Card Program, the result of noncompliance may be removal from the P-Card/CBA Program. In the event that an Approver fails to comply with the requirements for participation in the P-Card Program, noncompliance could result, at a minimum, in the following: Written counseling which would be placed on the employees record for a minimum of 12 months Consultation with Program Administrator and possibly Agency/Section Head and Internal Audit Section Disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment Legal actions, as allowed by the fullest extent of the law. CBA Account Guidelines Division of Administration Sections and Ancillary Agencies Section/Agency Head can complete the Request for a CBA Account Form and submit it to the Program Administrator for proper handling approval. If approved, the Section/Agency will be required to designate an Administrator/Authorizer, having the same duties, obligations and responsibilities as a cardholder. NOTE: CBA accounts do not allow issuance of a plastic card. These are referred to as ghost accounts The Section/Agency Head is responsible for establishing the overall card cycle limit. TRAVEL POLICY Agency participation requires annual review of the Travel Card Program by the agency Internal Audit Section. This policy and the related procedures along with the use of the Travel Card and CBA program do not negate any current requirement and/or allowances in PPM49, including the travel authorization/expense forms which must be completed for all non-routine travel, conferences and out of state travel, as well as, Purchasing Policies, Rules and Regulations, Louisiana Statutes, or Executive Orders, if applicable, and all must be followed when using and administering the Travel Card. Travel Guidelines All guidelines are the same as the LaCarte Card with the following exceptions: Card Expirations (every 3 years)- Cardholders must recertify annually by taking the online course and achieving a passing score of 90% prior to receiving the renewal Travel Card. Agency Limits The Travel Card may be used for purchases not to exceed the agency single purchase limit up to $1,000 without prior approval from the Office of State Procurement. The Office of State Procurement must approve in writing any authority for a SPL or one time override to be above $5,000. Prohibited Usage: The Travel Card may not be used for: Incidental expenses. Cardholder should present a personal credit card when checking into a hotel to cover any incidental expenses incurred during a business trip and request for reimbursement through LEO Travel. Personal items. The use of the Travel Card for personal expenditures is strictly prohibited. Cardholders who violate this rule must reimburse these funds and, if the violation is determined to be intentional, my be subject to both losses of employment and criminal penalties. Louisiana sales taxes on purchases. Louisiana sales tax should not be paid for hotel, Enterprise in- state vehicle rentals and Park-N-Fly parking charges. Sales tax may be paid when required for vendors out of state. Fuel or vehicle maintenance if agency is part of the Fuel Card and Maintenance Program. Membership dues Hotel Incidentals: Unallowable hotel charges such as room service, movies, double occupancy, as well as other charges which are in excess of official business days (such as personal days added at the beginning or end of a trip/conference) paid by the employee resulting in state, city or parish tax exemption, must be paid by the cardholder to the tax assessing entities. Unallowable costs appearing on the Hotel Incidentals Report will be reported to the Agency Coordinator for resolution. The Coordinator will have to provide the Program Administrator with documentation supporting the cardholder paid the tax assessing entities. The Coordinator is also responsible for ensuring the cardholder was counseled regarding this instance as described as non-approved purchases. Ensure that purchases made utilizing Amazon, PayPal, EBay, etc. are allowed only upon completion of the On-Line Purchase Account Acknowledgement Form identifying the account name as the state agency and shipment address as the state agency physical address. A form for each online account is required. CBA Account The CBA account will have an overall cycle limit that reflects the agencys travel patterns. These limits must be judiciously established and adhered to accordingly. The Section/Agency Head is responsible for establishing the overall card cycle limit. The CBA accounts are the direct liability of the State. Each agency is responsible for ensuring all accounts are paid timely and in full each month with ONE electronic funds transfer (EFT) to Bank of America. Charges to the CBA account must be for official state business. If it is determined that personal or other unauthorized charges are occurring on the CBA account, appropriate steps, up to and including dismissal shall be taken to resolve the misuse/abuse of the account. The CBA Account Administrator should treat the account similar to a credit card and shall never include the full CBA account number ins, fax, reports, memos, etc. If an account number is necessary, only the use of the last four or eight digits of the account number is allowed. OFFICE OF FINANCE & SUPPORT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT ______________________________________________ HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE: LaCARTE P-CARD TRAINING on _______________________________________________ This document is intended to be used solely for the purpose of documenting the individuals completion of the LaCarte Purchasing Card Training in compliance with the Office of State Procurement.